Some of you have made comments about how clean my hen house is ✨
So I thought I would just go over with you, what my cleaning regimen is ?
Some cleaning tasks are daily, others are weekly, and some even yearly
Once a year, I go through the whole entire coop
Brush down the walls just to make sure there’s nothing on the them
Whether it’s poop because somebody was sleeping up against a wall
Or cobwebs on the wall or dust
Similar to when you’re putting up new drywall and you brush down the wall, that’s what I do
I also brush off light bulbs and windows just to get the dust off
If you use the deep litter method of bedding then annually is when you would deal with that.
I don’t personally use that method, so I can’t give you any details about it, but I do know that that’s an annual task.
Then weekly, I scoop the poop
I scoop it all up, in the whole entire coop and run
That goes into my compost
But while I’m scooping, check for moldy bedding of any kind to remove it
Check the nest boxes … clean out any poop or fallen feathers
If you use actual bedding in your nest box, then replace it every week
I use plastic nest pads, so it’s easy to see if they’ve pooped in there
I don’t have to replace the nest pads very often
They’re plastic, so I just pull them out and wash them down and put them back
Another thing I do weekly is remove any caked or molding feed
My 3 treadle feeders hold 20 lbs each, so they only need to be filled weekly
When the feeders get filled, check to make sure that the feed is normal … not caked or moldy, especially if it can get rained on
Because even though they have a solid roof, when it rains, if the rain is coming in sideways, its possible to harm the feed
Do a weekly check of your waterers
Whether it is a water system hooked up to the house like I have or it’s a manual waterer…
You want to check inside, make sure it’s not getting dirty or growing algae in there
If it is, wash it out.
Even the system I have hooked up to the house …
You can turn the water off and take it down, so that you can wash them out and put them back
Something I do twice a year…
I spray down all the wood with permethrin, a parasite deterrent
I’ll do the inside the coop during the day while the flock is out in the run and let it dry
Then when they go in to go to bed, I come out into the run with a flashlight, and I’ll spray the run
I do the same thing if I need to disinfect for whatever reason
I use oxine and I’ll do it the same way
I can do inside the coop during the day and then, in the run that night
Since people have mentioned how clean my henhouse is
I thought you might want to know how I keep it that way in 2 -3 hours per week
I hope you picked up a few good tips to add to your own cleaning regimen.
Remember … Be The Organic U – Feed Your Soul
#BeTheOrganicU #organic #homestead #sustainability #agriculture #coops #farming #gardening #chickens #backyard #eggs #farmlife #homesteading #permaculture